Detour

Okay, August is going to be a problem. I'll say that right now. A friend recently asked me how do other people manage to fit everything into their lives - writing, cooking, cleaning, exercising, kids etc etc. My profound response was sometimes our 'real' lives have to stop for our 'writing' lives. I use 'real' and 'writing' this way because until I make a living out of writing, it is still classified as a 'hobby' in my mind. And that's probably something else I should change... but I stray from my point.
I continued on to say: 'and sometimes our 'writing' lives have to be put on hold for our 'real' lives, especially when it comes to the health and well-being of our families. I'll feed my family take-aways all week and ignore clothes that have been on the line for days without feeling guilty, but sadly, life has taken an unexpected turn.
My loved father has a serious health issue at the moment, one which is not going to improve. This has caused considerable distress in the family, and I find, for the moment, all my energies and all my time is focussed on his well-being and the well-being of my mother, who is heroicly nursing him at home.
15 000 words for August is looking doubtful, but I can't turn away from my life, my 'real' life, at a time like this. Problems don't just disappear, we have to deal with them and somehow readjust our goals to fit the moment.
So, new goal for August. Stay sane, and help my mother stay sane. Tell my kids and husband each day how much I value them, and how they enrich and complete my life, just by being here. They are not responsible for my happiness, but they are an integral part of it. And writing will have to either wait or mould itself around my life as it is today, 8th August, 2008.

A Goal Achieved

The new project is going well. I made my goal of 8000 words for July. Now, I know that doesn't sound like much, and I should be able to do that in a good week, but for me at the moment, it was important to set a small, easily achieved goal and bask in the glow of success. I'll be more ambitious for August.
Which brings me to the question: Is it better to aim high and risk failing, or cheat a bit by setting a ridiculously easy goal and succeeding? I guess that answer is: both are valid approaches, as long as they work for you. The worst case scenario is setting that ridiculous goal and still not achieving it!
So, the goal for August is... 20 000 words. No, make that 15 000. More ambitious than July, still achievable, could be setting myself up to crash and burn, but I'll feel great if I make it.

Motivation

Every one needs some 'down time', I agree, but when a month passed and I hadn't really progressed very far with my next book, I decided to ask myself 'why?' I like my characters, and my world. I know where I'm heading re: plot and story line. Hmmm. I'm really not sure what the problem is. And I'm not sure about the solution, either.
Drastic action was called for. I'd already enrolled in another QWC Year of the Novel course, so when it came time to send through the details about my 'project', I decided to tackle something new. Maybe that's what was missing! I've been immersed in the world of Sahaar for so long, I need a holiday. My course runs for 5 months, I've picked a smaller project, a children's novel, so I'm looking at about 35 000 - 45 000 words. If I work consistently, I should have the completed manuscript by September/October. Okay, I can hear that sniggering there in the background...
So far, my brilliant plan is working. My word count isn't too hefty yet, but I have a fair bit of research to do. Setting a 'research plan' was one of the topics we covered in the first lesson. 'Be specific about the time you are allocating to research. Be specific about your topics.' These are hard lessons, but ones I really need to listen to.
So... my goal before our next lesson in 2 weeks time is 8 000 words. That doesn't seem like a lot, so hopefully I'll do it.

Conferencing

When a writer has no income, it can sometimes be hard to take advantage of all the wonderful conferences and festivals around, but I have to admit, there's nothing like the atmosphere and buzz surrounding a good conference to spur me on. I come back to my desk refreshed and re-energised and totally focussed on my writing. This year I've been very extravagant. In February I was in Sydney for the SCBWI conference; in May I went to Melbourne for the CBCA conference, and I'm looking forward now to the CYA Later Alligator conference in Brisbane in September.
I remember vividly the first writing 'do' I ever went to. No one spoke to me. At all. All night. I broke the ice a couple of times with gems such as: 'Sorry, am I in your way?' 'Oh, dear, it's crowded, isn't it? Was that your foot I stood on?' But those few attempts fizzled away.
Fast forward five years and things have changed. The conferences I go to are nearly all focussed on Childrens/YA writing, and childrens/YA authors would have to be the friendliest, most helpful and supportive group of people I've come across. I've been told Romance writers are friendly, too.
To anyone thinking of attending a conference for the first time - do it. Conversations do become easier with practice, and you'll gradually make friends and soon find the same familiar faces pop up at a lot of different festivals around the country. Then it's quite easy to say: 'We met briefly in Sydney. That was a great weekend, wasn't it?'

Procrastination Queen

I've come across an interesting idea lately that says blogs are meant to be used. That is: added to, updated, posted to.... Hmm. Okay, so 2007 rushed by in a blur and 2008 looks like it's going exactly the same way.
I've finished editing Stones of Sahaar. It now stands at 95 000 words. I'm wondering if that's too long for a YA novel? Could I split it in two? I'm going to think about that as I progress with Jewel of Rajpur, but I don't want to make any Huge changes yet because otherwise I'll never get any further on with my story. I get bogged down in research and editing.
Jewel of Rajpur has its own problems at the moment. I'm 50 000 words through and my intrepid team of adventurers haven't reached Rajpur yet. I may have to rethink the title.
My goal for June is 3000 words a day. I have to finish this. I hate keeping track of daily word counts, but drastic action is called for.
So: June 1, word count, zero. Great! Good start to the month, but I did catch the new Indiana Jones movie with the kids.
June 2, word count, um.... Look, it's still early. Anything can happen. I might just read the paper first and have a cup of tea. And it's so miserable outside, drizzling and grey. I might take the papers back to bed for awhile... Hmmm, maybe tomorrow I'll be feeling more productive.